Coach turnover can be one of the hardest challenges an athlete can face in their career. For Central Connecticut lacrosse senior Carson Adelberger, there have been three different head coaches over her four-year tenure at the school.

The Blue Devils seem to have found the right coach in their hiring of alum and all-time leading scorer Betsy Vendel, but with that obviously comes the challenge of adapting to someone new, something many players have trouble with at any level.

On the contrary, Adelberger has thrived under her new coach, already scoring 11 goals on the still young season. Her 11 goals leads the team and have helped push the Blue Devils to two wins already, as many as they had all last season. In comparison, her highest scoring season before this was 16, when she was second in scoring for the CCSU. Now only five goals behind that clip, she’s still got 10 games to go as a Blue Devil.

Carson is quick to praise the new coaching staff of the Blue Devils.

“The coaches that we brought in this year are really good for the program, and they’ve been really helping us with changing the culture. I’m excited to see what they do after I leave as well,” Adelberger said.

Adelberger’s new coach feels just as strongly about her.

“Carson is one of my favorite players to coach because she’s so coachable,” Vendel explained. “I tell her one thing and she does it. She also is someone that recognizes their mistakes, owns up to it and tries to get better at those mistakes.” 

Now approaching the final games of her career at Central, Adelberger remains committed to helping the future of the program, and looks to lead the young Blue Devils “by example.”

“Doing my best on the field and in school, let them know what it’s like being a student-athlete and how to excel at both,” Adelberger continued, describing how she demonstrates.

No one can attest to Adelberger’s leadership like Vendel who describes how “she’s a motivator, she works incredibly hard at practice and pushes everyone else to be better. She deserves every accolade she’s gotten. She’s a workhorse from top to bottom for us.”

Her hard-working mentality has landed her accolades along the way, but importantly to Adelberger, has helped her team. Last year, the midfielder was second in assists on the team with six and has improved her overall game this season. She’s currently second on the team in draw controls with 11, and also holds the third-best shot on goal percentage at an impressive 83.9 percent.

With Northeast Conference play quickly creeping up on the Blue Devils, Adelberger is showing no signs of slowing down on what has already been a career year for the senior. Her workhorse mentality, tremendous leadership and even better offensive play have helped Central take the next step in a year of uncertainty, leaving some big cleats for the Blue Devils to fill.